Deuteronomy 18:12

18:12 Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord and because of these detestable things ¹  the Lord your God is about to drive them out ²  from before you.

Deuteronomy 22:5

22:5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing, ³  nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive ⁴  to the Lord your God.

Proverbs 11:1

11:1 The Lord abhors ⁵  dishonest scales, ⁶ 

but an accurate weight ⁷  is his delight.

Proverbs 20:23

20:23 The Lord abhors ⁸  differing weights,

and dishonest scales are wicked. ⁹ 

Amos 8:5-7

8:5 You say,

“When will the new moon festival ¹⁰  be over, ¹¹  so we can sell grain?

When will the Sabbath end, ¹²  so we can open up the grain bins? ¹³ 

We’re eager ¹⁴  to sell less for a higher price, ¹⁵ 

and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales! ¹⁶ 

8:6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, ¹⁷ 

a pair of sandals ¹⁸  for the needy!

We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!” ¹⁹ 

8:7 The Lord confirms this oath ²⁰  by the arrogance of Jacob: ²¹ 

“I swear ²²  I will never forget all you have done! ²³ 

Amos 8:1

More Visions and Messages of Judgment

8:1 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw ²⁴  a basket of summer fruit. ²⁵ 

Colossians 1:9-11

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ²⁶  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ²⁷  to fill ²⁸  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ²⁹  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ³⁰  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, 1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ³¹  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³²  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 4:6

4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer everyone.

Revelation 21:27

21:27 but ³³  nothing ritually unclean ³⁴  will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable ³⁵  or practices falsehood, ³⁶  but only those whose names ³⁷  are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

[18:12]  ¹ tn Heb “these abhorrent things.” The repetition is emphatic. For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, the same term used earlier in the verse has been translated “detestable” here.

[18:12]  ² tn The translation understands the Hebrew participial form as having an imminent future sense here.

[22:5]  ³ tn Heb “a man’s clothing.”

[22:5]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “offense”) speaks of anything that runs counter to ritual or moral order, especially (in the OT) to divine standards. Cross-dressing in this covenant context may suggest homosexuality, fertility cult ritual, or some other forbidden practice.

[11:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) is a subjective genitive.

[11:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “scales of deception.” The genitive is attributive: “deceptive scales.” This refers to dishonesty in the market where silver was weighed in the scales. God condemns dishonest business practices (Deut 25:13-16; Lev 10:35-36), as did the ancient Near East (ANET 388, 423).

[11:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “a perfect stone.” Stones were used for measuring amounts of silver on the scales; here the stone that pleases the Lord is whole, complete, perfect (from שָׁלֵם, shalem). It was one that would give an honest, accurate measurement.

[20:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” This expression features a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.”

[20:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “not good.” This is a figure known as tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is wicked!” (e.g., 11:1; 20:10).

[8:5]  ¹⁰ sn Apparently work was prohibited during the new moon festival, just as it was on the Sabbath.

[8:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “pass by.”

[8:5]  ¹² tn The verb, though omitted in the Hebrew text, is supplied in the translation from the parallel line.

[8:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “sell grain.” Here “grain” could stand by metonymy for the bins where it was stored.

[8:5]  ¹⁴ tn Here and in v. 6 the words “we’re eager” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[8:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to make small the ephah and to make great the shekel.” The “ephah” was a unit of dry measure used to determine the quantity purchased, while the “shekel” was a standard weight used to determine the purchase price. By using a smaller than standard ephah and a heavier than standard shekel, these merchants were able to increase their profit (“sell less for a higher price”) by cheating the buyer.

[8:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and to cheat with deceptive scales”; NASB, NIV “dishonest scales”; NRSV “false balances.”

[8:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to buy the poor for silver.”

[8:6]  ¹⁸ tn See the note on the word “sandals” in 2:6.

[8:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “The chaff of the grain we will sell.”

[8:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “swears.”

[8:7]  ²¹ sn In an oath one appeals to something permanent to emphasize one’s commitment to the promise. Here the Lord sarcastically swears by the arrogance of Jacob, which he earlier had condemned (6:8), something just as enduring as the Lord’s own life (see 6:8) or unchanging character (see 4:2). Other suggestions include that the Lord is swearing by the land, his most valuable possession (cf. Isa 4:2; Ps 47:4 [47:5 HT]); that this is a divine epithet analogous to “the Glory of Israel” (1 Sam 15:29); or that an ellipsis should be understood here, in which case the meaning is the same as that of 6:8 (“The Lord has sworn [by himself] against the arrogance of Jacob”).

[8:7]  ²² tn The words “I swear” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation because a self-imprecation is assumed in oaths of this type.

[8:7]  ²³ tn Or “I will never forget all your deeds.”

[8:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[8:1]  ²⁵ sn The basket of summer fruit (also in the following verse) probably refers to figs from the summer crop, which ripens in August-September. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 115.

[1:9]  ²⁶ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ²⁷ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ²⁸ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[1:10]  ²⁹ tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ³⁰ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

[1:11]  ³¹ tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.

[1:1]  ³² tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[21:27]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[21:27]  ³⁴ tn Here BDAG 552 s.v. κοινός 2 states, “pert. to being of little value because of being common, common, ordinary, profane…b. specifically, of that which is ceremonially impure: Rv 21:27.”

[21:27]  ³⁵ tn Or “what is abhorrent”; Grk “who practices abominations.”

[21:27]  ³⁶ tn Grk “practicing abomination or falsehood.” Because of the way βδέλυγμα (bdelugma) has been translated (“does what is detestable”) it was necessary to repeat the idea from the participle ποιῶν (poiwn, “practices”) before the term “falsehood.” On this term, BDAG 1097 s.v. ψεῦδος states, “ποιεῖν ψεῦδος practice (the things that go with) falsehood Rv 21:27; 22:15.” Cf. Rev 3:9.

[21:27]  ³⁷ tn Grk “those who are written”; the word “names” is implied.